THE RECORDED HISTORY OF WATERFOWL retrievers in America begins
around 1800, and continues through today. However, in a sense, the year
1920--right after World War I--divides the history into two distinct,
identifiable periods.

During the first period, American wildfowlers developed four
homegrown, regional breeds: Chesapeake Bay retriever, Nova Scotia duck
tolling retriever, American water spaniel and Boykin spaniel. In the
second period, from 1920 to today, American waterfowlers came to rely
more and more on five British breeds: Labrador retrievers, golden
retrievers, flat-coat retrievers, curly-coat retrievers and Irish water
spaniel. Prior to World War I, these imported breeds had only trickled
in.

In Part 1 of our two-part look at the history of waterfowl
retrievers in America, we'll cover 1800 to 1920, focusing on the
duck dogs of market gunners and early sport hunters. Part 2, in the
August issue, will cover the rise of today's popular waterfowl
hunting breeds.

FOWLING FOR FOOD

Through the first period, communications and transportation in
America were crude to non-existent. No Internet. No television.
Telephones and radios came late and spread slowly, as did automobiles.
Early roads were primitive, and improved slowly. Not surprisingly, most
folks stuck pretty close to home, whether on their farms or in towns and
villages. Even the more adventurous folks who headed west remained
mostly in small traveling groups. Our American ancestors lived in small,
isolated, tightly knit groups.

Then too, economic conditions were generally quite tough. No
40-hour work weeks, holidays and paid vacations. People scratched long
and hard, usually for what we would consider a skimpy living.

Hunting, because it provided necessary food for the hunter and his
close kin, was more an enjoyable form of work than recreation. For
market hunters, it produced much-needed income.

Where waterfowl abounded, hunters needed either a retriever or a
rowboat. Happily for us, many of them preferred to send a retriever
rather than to row a boat. But to get a good pup, hunters couldn't
just check a few Web sites and make a few phone calls. No, they had to
rely on local litters, and they didn't care about pedigrees, as
long as the parents were proven retrievers. Thus, in the early years,
breeding was quite casual, largely undocumented and highly regionalized.

Of course, over time, breeding became more studied and intentional,
and four American regional breeds emerged.

Training was even more casual than breeding. Folks back then
didn't have much time to train their retrievers beyond basic
obedience. Therefore, they had to develop breeds that would do most of
what they needed done with very little training. Of course, dogs with so
much natural talent and determination tend to resist extensive training,
especially the repetitive drills many rely on today for advanced field
trial competition.

Thus, we can call the breeds developed in America during the early
years "hunter's dogs," as opposed to the
"trainer's dogs" we've imported from Great Britain
in more recent years. Let's take a look at each of the four
American regional breeds.

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RISE OF THE CHESAPEAKE

Chesapeakes can be traced back to a pair of Newfoundlands,
"Sailor" (male) and "Canton" (female), rescued from
a shipwreck off the Maryland coast in 1807. Each became an outstanding
retriever on Chesapeake Bay. Although they were never bred to one
another, both were bred extensively to other working retrievers
thereabouts. Many of their progeny worked out well, so those dogs were
bred, both to one another and to unrelated dogs. Down through the
decades, few breeders kept records, so we don't know what all went
into the development of the breed we now call the Chesapeake.

However, we do know the kind of dogs those hardy souls on the Bay
needed and bred. Waterfowl numbers were unimaginable. Legal limits were
nonexistent. The market for duck and goose meat was insatiable.

Hunters shot a lot of ducks, both for their own consumption and for
the market. Clearly, their dogs had to be excellent markers, capable of
marking many birds from each flock. They had to possess great stamina to
retrieve dozens of birds all day, every day. Because the Bay's
waters could be rough, these dogs had to be large and extremely strong.
The water was. also quite cold, so the dogs had to have waterproof,
well-insulated coats. Because only such a dog could succeed under those
severe conditions, Bay hunters necessarily bred such rough-and-tumble
brutes down through those many undocumented decades.

The Chessie has always been territorial and protective. Those
traits were bred into him from early on, when he had to protect the
boss's property whenever the owner was away, perhaps peddling
harvested ducks. Modern breeders have gentled their stock down, but not
really all that much.

In 1878, the American Kennel Club registered its first Chesapeake,
a male named "Sunday." The current national breed club, the
American Chesapeake Club, wasn't formed until 1918. The United
Kennel Club recognized the breed in 1927.

The Chesapeake today is still big, strong and tough. The AKC breed
standard calls for a height at the withers of 21 to 27 inches and a
weight of 55 to 80 pounds. I've seen some out in the marshes
substantially larger than that. The double-coat consists of a soft,
insulating undercoat overlaid with a harsh, oily outercoat that is
practically waterproof. The color can be anything from dark brown to
faded tan (a.k.a. deadgrass).

Strong and tough of body, the Chesapeake is also strong and tough
of mind. An excellent marker, he resists interference from his owner,
seeming to say, "You shoot 'em without my help and I'll
fetch 'em without yours! Understand?"

Granted, field trial/hunting test popularity has forced some
breeders to strive for greater trainability, but today's Chesapeake
still resists rote drilling.

Not surprisingly, as a hunter's dog for the most severe
conditions, the "much of muchness" Chesapeake remains supreme.

TOLLING RETRIEVERS SERVE DOUBLE DUTY

Originally known as the Little River duck dog, and renamed as the
Nova Scotia duck tolling retriever in the early 1920s, this breed is
documented back to the early 19th century. The breed almost certainly
was known and used long before that. It was originally developed for
tolling waterfowl (see sidebar), but has gone on to become both a
weatherproof, all-around waterfowl retriever and a flashy upland
flusher.

Physically fox-like, the toller stands 17 to 21 inches at the
withers, and weighs 35 to 50 pounds. His double coat consists of a warm,
woolly undercoat overlaid by a harsh, water-repellent outercoat. The
color can be anything from a light gold to copper red. Those who use the
breed to toll ducks prize a white-tipped tail, because its flash
attracts ducks from a great distance.

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The toller is a strong-minded little rascal that resists the
repetitive drilling of advanced field trial training. Happily, for the
average hunter, he doesn't need it. His small size allows him to
fit nicely into the tiniest boat. He's a bouncy, high energy,
seemingly tireless worker that will delight any waterfowler, and
especially the one who also enjoys hunting upland game birds with a
fiery little flusher.

The toller breed was accepted by the Canadian Kennel Club in 1945,
but the Canadian national breed club, The Nova Scotia Duck Tolling
Retriever Club, wasn't formed until 1974.

In the United States, interest in the breed started in the late
1970s. In 1984, the U.S. national breed club, the Nova Scotia Duck
Tolling Retriever Club (USA) was formed. UKC recognition came in 1987,
with AKC recognition in 2003.

Will the toller actually toll ducks today? Yes, wherever ducks are
"tollable," which means quiet lakes with reasonably deep water
right up to the shoreline, an open shore for tolling retrieves, and
cover to hide the hunter. But even where these elements are lacking, the
toller is an excellent all-around dog that will do any waterfowl hunter
proud.

THE MIDWEST'S DUCK DOG

We know very little about the origins of this breed. Experts
generally agree that Wisconsin market hunters developed the American
water spaniel in the middle of the 19th century. But they are less
certain about what breeds were used in the process. The breeds most
frequently suggested are the extinct English water spaniel, field
spaniel, Irish water spaniel, curly-coated retriever and Chesapeake.

The AWS became quite popular in the Upper Midwest in the late 19th
and early 20th centuries. Whatever its origin, the AWS excels as both an
all-weather waterfowl retriever and a tireless upland flusher, being
equally talented in both types of work.

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Medium-sized, the AWS stands 15 to 18 inches at the withers and
weighs 25 to 45 pounds. The coat is double, with a soft, insulating
undercoat overlaid with a wavy or curly outercoat. The color can be
liver, brown or chocolate. Unlike other spaniel breeds, the AWS tail is
not docked.

The AWS temperament is uniquely 19th century American: bold,
self-confident, fearless, sometimes saucy and truculent, and yet
surprisingly sensitive and fiercely loyal. Like the other breeds in this
article, AWS is a hunter's dog, not a trainer's dog. He can do
most of what the average hunter wants done with just basic obedience
training, and he resists the repetitive drilling of more advanced
training.

UKC recognition came in 1920. A few AWS fanciers formed a national
breed club, the American Water Spaniel Club in 1937. AKC recognized the
breed in 1940. However, for many years, AWSC members couldn't agree
on whether the breed should be classified as a spaniel or as a
retriever, which prevented participation in AKC field trials and hunting
tests. Finally, in 2005, AWSC chose AKC spaniel classification, which
allowed AWS owners to run their dogs in AKC spaniel hunting tests.
Because they can also run them in UKC retriever hunts, they now have the
best of both worlds.

HOW TWO STRAYS BECAME A BREED

The Boykin spaniel breed began one Sunday morning sometime between
1905 and 1910, when a little brown dog followed Mr. Alec White to church
in Spartanburg, S.C., waited for him (some say joined him inside), and
then followed him home after church. White kept the pooch, named him
"Dumpy," and soon found his little stray could retrieve
waterfowl as well as his Chessies.

White turned Dumpy over to Mr. Whit Boykin for further training.
Boykin liked Dumpy so well that when he found a similar stray female at
the train depot, he took her, named her "Singo" and bred her
to Dumpy. The pups worked out well, so the Boykin breed took off and
became popular in that region. Over time, other breeds were also used to
develop the Boykin, but no one knows for sure what they were. The most
likely were Chesapeake, English springer spaniel and American water
spaniel.

The Boykin stands 15 to 18 inches at the withers, and weighs 30 to
40 pounds. The breed's flat to moderately curly coat might be any
color from solid liver to solid chocolate, with perhaps a white spot on
the chest. The tail is bobbed.

The Boykin temperament is all spaniel: friendly, outgoing, eager to
please. Like most spaniels, this breed is high-energy, bouncy, and
seemingly tireless. Training one is easy, as long as the trainer uses
positive techniques. Thus, although it is still a hunter's dog, the
Boykin is also something of a trainer's dog, at least for a
positive trainer.

The Boykin Spaniel Society was formed in 1977 as both a national
breed club and a registry. BSS has resisted breed recognition by other
registries. Even so, UKC recognized the breed in 1985. In the 1990s,
Boykin owners wanting AKC recognition formed another club, the Boykin
Spaniel Club and Breeders Association of America to seek AKC
recognition, which came in 2009.

The Boykin is another all-around hunting dog equally capable in
retrieving waterfowl and flushing upland game birds.

INVALUABLE RETRIEVERS

Before World War I, waterfowl retrievers in North America were
tough dogs that relied more on natural temperament and stamina than
training to earn their place next to duck gunners. While each of the
four breeds enjoy a healthy following today, these dogs are no longer
the most common canines in modern duck blinds. Still, Chessies, tollers,
American water spaniels and Boykins remain invaluable breeds in the
history of waterfowl hunting.

RELATED ARTICLE: WHAT IS TOLLING?

We learned tolling from foxes. Pairs of foxes have apparently
always used the following technique to lure rafts of ducks to within
pouncing distance of shore: With one fox flattened out at the
water's edge, the other fox prances and plays along the shoreline.
For reasons known only to ducks, the behavior draws rafts of ducks like
a magnet draws iron particles. When the ducks are close enough, the
prostrated fox leaps and catches any nearby duck. Then follows a
lakeside duck dinner for two, very rare, please.

Human hunters have long imitated this technique. By the 16th
century, English and Dutch hunters were using little fox-sized dogs
called "Pipers" to lure rafts of ducks into nets. The hidden
owner would repeatedly toss a stick along the shoreline for the bouncy
little dog to retrieve. Long before Europeans arrived in North America,
Native Americans in the area now known as Nova Scotia attracted rafts of
ducks to within the range of their bows by pulling a fox pelt back and
forth on a cord strung between two shoreline trees.

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Early European settlers in the Nova Scotia region--it's not
known whether it was the French before their expulsion in 1775 or the
subsequent British inhabitants--used little fox-like dogs not only to
toll ducks with animated retrieves along the shore, but also to fetch
subsequently shot fowl. Thus, Nova Scotians have used such dogs to toll
and retrieve waterfowl since at least the 18th century.

Today, we call those dogs "Nova Scotia duck tolling
retrievers."

FOR MORE INFORMATION

For more information about the breeds presented in this article,
visit the following national breed club Web sites: